Car Insurance Advice Needed

[KRZY403]

I'm in a dilemma. I'm currently paying $275 a month for insurance. So in order to save some money I'm considering removing collision coverage from my policy. The collision coverage alone is $1418 per year with a $2500 deductible. Do you guys think it's worth it? I feel that the chances of me crashing into something are highly unlikely as I take my car out only once a week.

[atgilchrist]

$275 /month with a $2500 deductible? Damn son, what's your driving history. Shop around for quotes...

[ExtraSlow]

Yeah, first step is to shop around for quotes. Start with kanetix and meloche monex.
The car in your signature looks pretty nice. Can you afford to replace it if you are in an accident? If the answer is no, then you need to figure out a way to pay for the collision insurance.

[ekguy]

Meloche Monnex is just for people who have graduated post secondary if I'm not mistaken. OP may or may not be able to go with them.

That's a high deductible as well...I'd definitely shop around. Maybe try a broker.

[scat19]

^ Brokers are not the best bet. They cannot compete against big banks. And some are shady and just go to the companies that pay them the most commision (I.E ING /whatever they're called now)

Go to a big bank, they blew away my broker. RBC cut down my insurance from 475 to 306.

[Masked Bandit]

I guess you need to ask if you are willing to wager $4000 (the cost of your coverage plus your deductible) against the total value of your vehicle (which is unknown to us at this point). There is no right or wrong answer here. What one person is comfortable with could be completely different from the next guy.

[ExtraSlow]

Originally posted by scat19
^ Brokers are not the best bet. They cannot compete against big banks. And some are shady and just go to the companies that pay them the most commision (I.E ING /whatever they're called now)

Go to a big bank, they blew away my broker. RBC cut down my insurance from 475 to 306.
In some situations a broker is the cheap option. Back when I had a lot of demerits (13) on my record, I shopped around pretty hard to find a decent deal. A broker found me a price that was cheaper than before I got the tickets.
Anyway, shop around, check the big banks, brokers and online.

[friedn00dles]

Originally posted by scat19
^ Brokers are not the best bet. They cannot compete against big banks. And some are shady and just go to the companies that pay them the most commision (I.E ING /whatever they're called now)

Go to a big bank, they blew away my broker. RBC cut down my insurance from 475 to 306.

wrong. All the companies i sell for are 12.5% commission to my brokerage for auto policies of the released premium.

20% for property.

Banks can rot in hell

[KRZY403]

Originally posted by atgilchrist
$275 /month with a $2500 deductible? Damn son, what's your driving history. Shop around for quotes...

Got into an accident 2 years ago on the first day of snowfall. Car was written off. I've had no tickets or accidents ever since.


Originally posted by scat19
^ Brokers are not the best bet. They cannot compete against big banks. And some are shady and just go to the companies that pay them the most commission (I.E ING /whatever they're called now)

Go to a big bank, they blew away my broker. RBC cut down my insurance from 475 to 306.

I was with aviva before and saved about $1000 by switching over to meloche monnex. Tried rbc and ing already but still too expensive.

Let's say I do get into a small accident like rear end someone what are the chances that it will cost more than $2500 to fix my own car? If it's about that range then I might as well take off the collision instead and save $1400

[Stubby]

^^^ try TD... they have some very reasonable insurance rates. I went from 365 w/ ING to 215 at TD

[ExtraSlow]

It's pretty rare for a collsion to be LESS than $2500.

[A2VR6]

Originally posted by KRZY403


Let's say I do get into a small accident like rear end someone what are the chances that it will cost more than $2500 to fix my own car? If it's about that range then I might as well take off the collision instead and save $1400

Im assuming this is for the RSX-S you have there. I was having the same issue as you and debating whether to take off the collision or keep the coverage. I ended up taking off the collision.

A bumper for the DC5 is around 500-600 and after you factor in paint and everything your probably looking at 1100. Thats almost half the 2500 range you stated. If you start looking at fenders, hood, subframe, rad supports, etc. I'd really think that you'd be looking over $2500.

I got lucky and when I had my RSX i didnt get into any at-fault collision in the 4 years that i had it (hence losing the collision was worth it for me). However, the biggest pain in the ass was the times where i'd get into a collision and it's the other driver's fault. I found that I had to do alot of running around, chasing after the other persons insurance company in order to get my vehicle repaired. Where as my parents who had collision when faced in a similar situation didnt have to go through all that hassle... they left it to the insurance company to do that.

[Xtrema]

Your car is worth $10K (Black Book)

Your deductible is $2500

So you are practically paying $1400/yr to insure $7500 (and dropping) worth of the car. You can probably buy another Type-S of the same year in about 3 to 4 years paying @ this rate.

You clearly don't need a car since you only drive it once or twice a week. So the impact of not having a car due to accident is pretty low.

So I say drop it.

[KRZY403]

Originally posted by Xtrema
Your car is worth $10K (Black Book)

Your deductible is $2500

So you are practically paying $1400/yr to insure $7500 (and dropping) worth of the car. You can probably buy another Type-S of the same year in about 3 to 4 years paying @ this rate.

You clearly don't need a car since you only drive it once or twice a week. So the impact of not having a car due to accident is pretty low.

So I say drop it.

Black book value only 10k? Where are you getting this value from? I thought black book values are used only for the trade in at dealerships.

After some thinking I decided to drop the collision on my policy based on the fact that I rarely drive my car. Just about to reach 60k kms :D
FML I wish I had made this thread sooner. Could have saved myself a lot of money.

[FiveFreshFish]

Keep this in mind if you have no collision coverage: If someone at fault crashes into you, it's your responsibility to communicate with the other guy's insurance company to settle the damages to your car and to get reimbursed for any medical costs you incurred. Your insurance company won't help you out.

[Xtrema]

^That's kinda true.... but I had full coverage and it's almost as frustrating anyway.

Insurance pros correct me I'm wrong, don't insurance company use black book for car value?

And yes, black book is $10-$11K.

[FiveFreshFish]

You can still argue the value of your car. The settlement amount is supposed to be how much it'll cost you to replace your car. So if you can find several ads showing your car at a higher value than they are offering, they will (or should) up their settlement offer.

[punky]

if you can afford it, definitely stick with the complete insurance package. Try to shop around for something cheaper because its worth the effort. Taking off collision and comprehensive may save you the money, but when you get into an accident you'll wish you have collision and comprehensive. I currently only have liability because its the only thing i can afford. I've gotten into 2 accidents, and both times i wish i had collision and comprehensive, i have to go and get money from the other insurance company, and it aint easy, if you've never done it before. Where as if you got complete insurance your insurance company will take care of it all. I'll be switching over to comprehensive next year.

[KRZY403]

I don't think my insurance can get much cheaper than what I'm paying right now considering the fact that I made a claim 2 years ago and was at fault, but I'll still look around when it's time to renew.

[Masked Bandit]

Originally posted by Xtrema
^That's kinda true.... but I had full coverage and it's almost as frustrating anyway.

Insurance pros correct me I'm wrong, don't insurance company use black book for car value?

And yes, black book is $10-$11K.

Nope. Companies pay on current market value. Now who actually decides what the market value is, well that's another discussion. But I would say through our office 8 out of 10 times the customers are happy with the original offer.

[tom_9109]

Originally posted by FiveFreshFish
Keep this in mind if you have no collision coverage: If someone at fault crashes into you, it's your responsibility to communicate with the other guy's insurance company to settle the damages to your car and to get reimbursed for any medical costs you incurred. Your insurance company won't help you out.

If you carry no collision coverarage and someone at fault crashed into you, the physical damage to the vehicle must be handled by you with the other insurance company however medical costs are handles by your own insurance company regardless of fault (Section B, Accident Benefits) with some limits and exclusions. Anything beyond that amount you have to sue the other company for. This is a no fault benefit and every Alberta auto policy has it.


Originally posted by Masked Bandit
Nope. Companies pay on current market value. Now who actually decides what the market value is, well that's another discussion. But I would say through our office 8 out of 10 times the customers are happy with the original offer. [/B]

This is totally true. Black book has absolutely nothing to do with your vehicles value. Current market value is what you are entitled to, this is referred to as "Actual Cash Value' or 'ACV' and in theory is what you could have actually sold the vehicle for 1 minute before the accident. Its not what a dealer would pay on trade rather what an average dealer or private seller would get for the vehicle. The most common method of determining ACV is called an 'Autosource Valuation' in which your vehicle, its mileage, equipment, recent maintenance, and condition are taken into account and compared against several (sometimes in the hundreds) and a fair value is determined. I've seen close hundred of these and rarely do they come back with an unfair low number. At times they come back high and the insured (thats you) ends up making out extremely well and get far more than they could if they tried to sell the vehicle.